How to play Tank Duel

Turn-based artillery across ground you can blow apart: set the angle, judge the power, read the wind, and walk your shells onto the other tank before it walks its onto you.

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Tank Duel is artillery in its oldest and best form. Two tanks at opposite ends of a range, one shell each turn, and two numbers to set: the angle of the barrel and how hard to throw it.

The rules

You and your opponent fire one shot each in turn. The first tank to run out of health loses.

A direct hit does full damage. A near miss does less the further away it lands, so a shot that is close is worth something rather than nothing.

Finding the range, shot by shot

The whole game is bracketing.

Fire, watch where the shell lands, and correct. If it went long, take power off. If it fell short, add some. Then fire again with the correction and watch again.

The efficient method is to bracket rather than creep: if your first shot is long and your second is short, the answer is between them, and splitting the difference converges much faster than nudging the power down one notch at a time.

Angle and power interact, so the practical approach is to fix your angle and adjust only power until you are on target. Changing both at once means you cannot tell which change did what.

The wind

Wind pushes the shell sideways for its entire flight, so its effect grows with time in the air. A high, lofted shot spends longer aloft and is therefore pushed much further than a flat, fast one.

Read the wind before committing. And note the consequence: if the wind is strong, a flatter trajectory is more predictable, while a high arc is at the wind's mercy.

The ground is the third player

Every shell that lands takes a bite out of the hillside.

That changes the range as the duel goes on. A ridge that was blocking your line of fire can be blown away by two or three shots landing on it — and equally, a hill you were shooting comfortably over can develop a crater that your opponent is now sitting safely inside.

So terrain destruction is a weapon. If you cannot reach your opponent because a ridge is in the way, shooting the ridge deliberately is a legitimate move, and after two shots the shot you actually want becomes possible.

Digging in, and digging out

Craters cut both ways. A tank sitting in a deep hole is hard to hit with a flat shot but perfectly exposed to a lofted one — and it may find that its own flat shots now hit the wall of its own crater.

If you have dug yourself into a hole, raise your angle before you fire, or your shell will land on your own doorstep.

Controls

Drag back from your tank to aim, slingshot style — the direction sets the barrel and the pull-back distance sets the power.

Keyboard

Left and Right for angle, Up and Down for power.
Space to fire; keys 1, 2 and 3 pick the shell.

Touch

The buttons under the range adjust angle and power and fire.

Strategy tips

Bracket, do not creep. One shot long, one shot short, then split the difference — it converges far faster than nudging the power down a notch at a time.
Change one number at a time. Fix the angle and adjust only power, or you will not know which change moved the shell.
Read the wind before every shot. It pushes the shell for its whole flight, so a lofted shot is affected far more than a flat one.
Use a flatter trajectory in strong wind. Less time in the air means less drift and a much more predictable shell.
Shoot the ridge that is in your way. Terrain is destructible, so two shots at an obstacle can open the line you actually want.
Watch what your opponent's misses are doing to the ground. A crater near you may be about to become the hole you cannot shoot out of.
Raise your angle if you are sitting in a crater. A flat shot from inside a hole hits your own wall.
Take the near miss when the perfect shot is not available. Damage falls off with distance rather than vanishing, so close still counts.